LAWRENCE — After taping his weekly radio show Monday at the Salty Iguana Mexican Restaurant, Charlie Weis went back to his office for a chat with his quarterback.

This isn’t a regular meeting — Mondays with Charlie, as it were — but it’s not unusual for Dayne Crist to stop by. On this occasion, Weis had a specific message for his quarterback, whose first two starts at Kansas have been underwhelming at best.

“What do we know about our team that we didn’t know two weeks ago?” Weis said. “Let’s start there.”

The Jayhawks know they can run the ball, at least against the caliber of competition they have faced so far. They have two talented running backs in Tony Pierson and Taylor Cox, and they will gain a third when James Sims returns from suspension after this week.

KU doesn’t need its quarterback to be a savior, then, even if Crist was cast in that role when he transferred from Notre Dame.

“If you’re a quarterback, you don’t have to wear all the weight on your shoulders,” Weis said. “I’m going to feed the ball to the running backs a bunch of times anyway.”

The idea is for Crist to relax, to forget about rescuing an entire program and focus on having fun.

Asked if that message had hit home, Crist answered by flashing a wide grin.

“It was clear watching myself on film that I just wasn’t having enough fun out there,” Crist said. “That’s why I play the game. It was a little frustrating and confusing that the two weren’t going hand in hand.

“I plan on having a lot more fun from here on out and just relaxing and being one of the guys and helping manage the offense.”

Weis didn’t use the words “game manager” with regard to Crist, but his ideal seems much closer to Matt Cassel than Tom Brady.

Weis doesn’t need a high-flying passing game, but he wants efficiency from his offense when Crist drops back to pass. The Jayhawks haven’t gotten it so far, with Crist completing 33 of 64 passes (52 percent) with two touchdowns and three interceptions through two games.

“I wouldn’t say I’m very happy with the passing game right now,” Weis said. “To say that might be an understatement on my part.

“I do believe the passing game has a lot of room for improvement. I think it better come on in a hurry, because the better your opponents are each week, you’re going to need to score more than 24 points.”

KU can score in the 20s most weeks by relying on its running game, Weis said, but that won’t be enough in a league that features seven teams that averaged at least 30 last season.

That doesn’t mean the Jayhawks need Crist to light up the scoreboard, but they do need him to hit open receivers, something he has struggled to do with regularity in his first two starts.

Crist isn’t naïve about his own struggles. It’s hard to have fun when you’re losing to Rice, but Crist hopes a looser mindset will equal a better performance Saturday against TCU.

“I’m not sitting here to make excuses and say it’s magically going to be 100 percent better,” Crist said. “But I’ve identified the issues that I think I need to identify. It all just starts with having more fun.”

INJURY UPDATE: KU suffered its first major injury of the season Saturday, losing linebacker Prinz Kande for the season with a torn ACL.

Kande drew his first start against Rice and recorded three tackles and a sack.

“He’s doing rehab right now to get the swelling down, and then he’ll have surgery,” Weis said.

The Jayhawks also gained a body at linebacker, with Notre Dame transfer Anthony McDonald appearing on the depth chart for the first time. McDonald, originally listed as a starter at middle linebacker, now is listed as a backup to Huldon Tharp at weakside linebacker.

Weis had said McDonald wouldn’t play until he could go full speed, and apparently the time has come.

“Anthony’s ready to play,” Weis said.

It’s not clear if the same will be true for Kale Pick, Brandon Bourbon and Lubbock Smith, all of whom are listed as day-to-day after suffering injuries against Rice.

“If we were playing today, I don’t know if any of the three would play, but all three of them are trying to play this Saturday,” Weis said.

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you can put some of it on Crist but the receivers , save Daymond Patterson and Kale Pick, have been underwhelming as well. Beshears has practically disappeared and no one else is stepping up yet. And Crist's first interception against Rice was partially the fault of the lineman, Sterling who completely whiffed on his block.

Since village idiot #1 has nothing to offer above and idiot #2 doesn't get it, yes, more fun. He doesn't need to try to be more than he is, just be solid and be the leader of the offense, at least until Sims returns. I am sure if Snyder gave Klein the same advice, you'd say you understood it.

are still very interested in KU football more than KSU football, thank you for your support. I guess when you are rooting for the 113th best football program in college football history out of 124 teams I can see why you would want to root for KU (who by the way is 86th best) and has an all time record over .500. KSU.....not so much (139 games below .500).